How To Improve Your Mental Health? Health & Wellbeing

Improving Your Mental Health

Mental health is extremely important and should be treated with the same importance as your physical health. Your mental health is likely to be tested and affected by whatever life may throw at you and it’s important to find ways to make yourself feel more positive and overcome any negative feelings that this may bring. With this in mind, we’ve produced the following guide of how to pick yourself up and improve your mental health.

Discuss How You’re Feeling

Mental health has never been discussed so freely and yet, people still suffer silently. It’s important to not cut yourself off as even other people’s company can have a positive impact on how you’re feeling sometimes. Connecting with friends and family can help you to build a sense of belonging, allow you to share anything positive that has happened to you and allow others to be able to give you emotional support. Not only that, but they may think to come to you in the future with any problems that they have themselves.

Arrange to meet friends, have lunch with a colleague or simply turn off the technology at the dinner table with your family. It doesn’t have to be anything monumental, but you would be amazed at what a small discussion can do for you.

Take a Break

Sometimes stress, anxiety and other feelings can build up to a point where they become all encompassing. This can lead to a reduction in your focus and productivity. Therefore, it’s important to take time to yourself to try and put things into perspective. This could be by doing something that you enjoy, helping someone else or even just taking a minute to be mindful.

Mindfulness can help you to be present in the moment and avoid negative feelings from becoming overwhelming. To learn more about how to practice mindfulness, read our guide. At work, it may be harder to find a break and take yourself out of the situation. However, there are things that can help and you can find out more in our guide on how to deal with anxiety at work.

Learn New Skills

When you’re feeling low, mental health issues can affect your confidence, sense of purpose and motivation. That’s why it’s so important to try and engage in things that combat these issues. By trying to learn a new skill, it can give you a new lease of life, a new passion and a feeling of self worth.

Do you cook? If not, try and learn how to cook your favourite meal. Ever wanted to pick up a musical instrument? A new hobby like this can be a great outlet for how you’re feeling and it can offer fun challenges to keep you motivated.

Keep Active and Eat Healthy

Never underestimate the importance of how you’re fuelling and using your body. It’s never been easier to access workouts and recipes online with home workouts, gym apps and nutrition trackers being readily available. Beginner activities with specific goals such as the Couch to 5k, local running events and gym classes can all offer great motivation in your life. The great thing about exercise and eating healthily is that you quickly start to see noticeable results as you notice physical improvements and according to NHS research, improvements in your mood.

If you have a disability or health condition, the NHS website is packed full of ideas on how to stay fit.

Ask For Help

No matter how bad things get and how stressful your life may be, there is no shame attached to asking for help. We can all be guilty of taking on a little bit too much at work or even at home and eventually, it can become too much. It’s likely that whoever you speak to will have suffered the same kind of circumstance themselves at some point and as a result, will be able to relate to you.

As mental health issues are often very well hidden, it’s important to show what you’re feeling when they start affecting you. However, if you notice a dramatic change in your mental health that is affecting your day-to-day life, getting help and speaking to someone (like your GP) is a good first step.

At Building Better Opportunities, we offer a wide range of training courses and events that can help you deal with anxiety at work. For more information, contact us today or drop in to one of our work clubs in Stafford or South Staffordshire to discuss our programmes with an Advocate.